As news of the star actor's demise spread, almost all of Karnataka ground to a halt. An undeclared bandh swept through south and central Karnataka (old Mysore region), which is considered the actor's bastion, as people scrambled to pay respect.
In Bangalore, the IT capital of the country, traders and business establishments downed shutters to condole the death of the star. Public transport, including autorickshaws, went off the roads and a majority of the IT companies declared a holiday after incidents of stone throwing and torching of buses were reported.
Vehicular traffic piled up and thousands of fans rushing to catch a last glimpse of their favourite actor caused traffic jams. The police had a difficult time controlling the crowd pouring into the actor's residence and finally cordoned off the area.
HD Kumaraswamy, Chief Minister of Karnataka, convened an emergency meeting of the state cabinet to pay homage to the star. The government decided to give a state funeral to the megastar, announced a two-day mourning and declared a general holiday on Thursday.
